Friends? or more?
by daydreamer54
Summary: what happens if you fall for your best friend? and then, what if you add the most popular boy at hogwarts into the equation? CedricOC pairing at first, maybe ends up OliverOc, havent quite decided. first fanfic, so read and review! :D sorry this is taking
1. confusion

I walked into Honeyduke's, glad to be rid of Oliver and his stupid girlfriend. I mean, there was only a small amount of times I could stand her praising Olly for every single save he made in the last match against Slytherin, and she had well exceeded that amount. Yeah, they won, but still. There's more to life than sport, which is probably the opinion I clash most on with Oliver Wood, captain of the Griffindor quidditch team, and my best friend.

So anyway, I was taking a peek at the sugar quills display, when I saw a familiar patch of curly brown hair.

"Cedric?" I asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Buying chocolate it would seem, like every other person in here", he replied, with that trademark grin that had half the female population of Hogwarts after him.

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Yes, well, I am known for my sense of humour." I stuck my tongue out at him.

After Ced made his purchases, he asked if I would like to join him for a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, so, a few minutes later I found myself strolling down the lanes of Hogsmeade with the most popular boy in the school.

He turned to me.

"I thought you were coming with Wood."

"Yeah, you weren't the only one. Turns out he and his girlfriend had other plans."

"Oh…" He gave me a grimace.

"What about you? No gorgeous escort? Is it true? Is Cedric Diggory really flying solo?"

"Well, it would seem despite my plans, I ended up with a beautiful escort anyway." He winked.

"Why thankyou kind Sir!" I laughed as I pushed open the heavy door of Madame Rosemerta's pub.

An hour later, Ced suggested a walk to the Shrieking Shack. Just as we neared the bottom of the track I slipped, and instead of the hard thump and pain I've grown accustomed to, I felt the warm strength of someone's arms encircling my waist.

I opened my eyes to see the clear green/grey of Cedric's staring back into mine.

"Th-thanks" I stuttered, as I slowly began to back away.

"Wait".

Wait… It's funny how one little word can induce so many feelings in such a short time. Part of me was struggling to resist jumping back into the comforting warmth of his embrace and snog him senseless. The other half wished he was Oliver.

_Why are you thinking of Oliver, when Cedric's standing right in front of you? Are you nuts? Oliver is a great friend, but obviously doesn't care for you as anything else. The same Oliver who has had an uncountable number of chances to tell you if he felt otherwise, but instead decided to invite you to tag along with him and his blasted bimbo girlfriend instead._

I stopped. Cedric stepped forward. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. I unconsciously held my breath as his hand reached out to gently brush a curl off my face, that had come loose in my tumble. I closed my eyes as he ran a finger along my jaw, drowning in the sweet cedar and musk scent of his aftershave. He tilted my head up, and I felt his soft lips capture mine.


	2. chills

A/N: I suck at beginnings, so I decided to start partway through, hence why I haven't fully explored my character (yet to be named, suggestions welcome) and her relationship with the dashing Oliver Wood. Also, I managed to delete my story with out reading the one review I got  , so if whoever was kind enough to submit it, could you please do it again? 

So back to the story…

"He's using you!" Oliver roared as he stomped out of the Great Hall the next morning.

"Using me? How could you say that?" I shouted back, tears beginning to sting in the backs of my eyes.

"He's trying to get to me, through you. He just wants to steal the cup. You're fraternising with the enemy!"

"The enemy! Oliver Wood, in case you have forgotten, I myself am from another house! Would it really kill you to think someone might see me as something other than a shortcut to your own inflated ego? You're a real jerk, you know that?" I cried, as I stood across the entrance hall from him. "Maybe you should take your head out of the clouds and notice that almost the whole of the rest of the student population don't live and breathe quidditch. Is that your problem? I'm not a broom or a beater's bat, so you don't care? Because…"

I was cut off by the arrival of The Bimbo, AKA Lavender Brown.

"What's wrong Olly? Sore after your game?... What's SHE doing here?"

I just glared at her and ran out the big oak doors before either could see the hot, salty tears beginning their long course down my cheeks.

Outside, it was freezing; misty rain was concealing the lake. I could just make out the glowing windows of Hagrid's hut, glimmering with firelight. I ran until my lungs felt they would burst, collapsed against the cold, damp wall of the greenhouses. _Damn Oliver and his stupid pride…it's only a sport, is it that much more important than me? We were best friends! We used to tell each other everything….now, I feel like sometimes I don't even know him anymore… I still remember the first time I met him, on the train to Hogwarts…._

"Um, Hi… is anyone else sitting here?" I asked as I cautiously poked my head around the door. My only 'friend' (if you could call her a friend, we only exchanged a few sentences on the platform) ditched me as soon as she spotted her real friends, and being not only new to this school, but new to this country, I didn't know anyone here other than my brothers.

The only occupant of the compartment was a smallish boy, brown, wavy hair blowing in the gusts coming through the open window.

"Well there were some others, but I think they wen' on a quest for food," he replied in a deep Scottish accent, giving me a hint of a smile as I edged in, nearly colliding with the seat when my trunk hit the edge of the door. I blushed a deep beetroot red, and quickly perched on the soft bench seat across from him.

"So you don't mind if I sit here then?"

"Nah, it's ok by me"

The conversation progressed pretty quickly after that Oliver telling me in great detail about his favourite quidditch team, Puddlemere United, and I ended up explaining how I had just moved with my family from Australia. The thing that struck me about Oliver straight away, was the sparkle in his blue eyes, the life within him, that never seemed to go away, not even when he was telling me about the major goal he missed in a game, or that his grandmother had died during the holidays.

So the train ride continued, and before I knew it, I was opening up to this boy, this stranger, more than I had to anyone else before.

"So do you have any brothers or sisters?" he asked me, as we settled down with the goodies we had just purchased from the trolley.

"Yeah, I have two older brothers, Luke and Ben. Luke's just started fourth year here, and Ben will be going into seventh. How about you?"

"No it's just little old me, living with me Ma and Pa. If you don't mind me asking, why did you move to Britain?"

"My mum died when I was three, and, well, my dad and step-mum decided it was time for a change, kind of a mid-life crisis I guess, and here I am, sitting in a train on my way to a magical boarding school on the other side of the world."

He laughed….wow he had a gorgeous laugh, deep and rich, like an old man's. We continued to bond, right up until we crossed the lake, both of us in awe of the castle and what we could see of the grounds. Then came the feast. I was wishing with all my heart to be placed in the same house as Olly, but first I had to wait until my brothers were sorted. 'Atkins, Ben' was called out, and Ben made his way to the stool, sat down, and I could already hear the whispers starting. Ben is the good looking one out of the three of us, blonde hair and blue eyes, the kind that change depending on what he wears. Lucky bugger. The next thing I remember was the hat shouting out 'Hufflepuff!' and wondering whether I'd be placed in the same house. Then, it was Luke's turn. He told me later that the hat had a hard time choosing between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but then the call went out, "Rawenclaw!'

And onto the first years they went. The old lady with the tartan hat called my name, and I was shoved from behind, out into the bright lights of the Great Hall. I remember being sad later, sitting with Luke, sad that I wasn't in Oliver's house.

The rain is starting to seep through my clothes, chilling me to the bone, but I refuse to go back. I don't want to see Oliver, see him warm and happy, probably discussing moves and tactics with the wizarding worlds saviour, Harry Potter, with his arms most probably resting comfortably around Lavender's waist. I don't want to see his smile, or hear him laugh.

There is one person I wish I could see right now, but unfortunately it's the one person I can't. In my dreams she always knows exactly what to say to cheer me up, or make me feel better, but I don't know if that's what she would say if she was here. She's one of the most important people in my life, and I don't even know what her voice sounds like. What I wouldn't give to hear it one more time, to see her face one more time. Life can be such a bitch.


	3. comfort

CEDRIC'S POV

I was beginning to get worried. I hadn't seen Mikaela at the Ravenclaw table at breakfast this morning, and it was now lunchtime. I'd asked Oliver Wood about her, but he just glared at me and stalked off with his girlfriend, a Gryffindor in Potter's year. I sat down with Darcy Macarthur, another sixth year from my Arithmancy class., and heaped some shepherd's pie onto my plate. I glanced up at the grey, rainy ceiling and shivered.

"Why the long face?" he asked, with a mouth half full of mashed potato.

"Well, it's a long story…and..."

"Is it about that Mikaela girl, from Ravenclaw? Because Simon was saying something about her and Wood having a fight in the Entrance Hall this morning before breakfast."

_Oh crap._ I jumped up, knocking over my goblet, but not caring. Oliver had found out, and I had to find Mikaela.

I bashed through the door, barging into a whole heap of third year Slytherins. I ran down the front steps, rain trickling down my forehead from my already soaking hair, as I searched the dark grounds for any sign of her. I spotted a hint of gold near the edge of the forest (A/N: he's not a seeker for nothing), by the edge of the greenhouses. I sprinted towards it, hoping desperately it was her.

As I got closer I could tell it was her, huddled in a wet, muddy heap on the soggy ground.

"Mikaela?" She looked up at me, eyes full of tears. I knew it was going to be hard for her with Wood, we weren't exactly the best of friends, and they were, but I obviously didn't realise how hard. I knelt down and pulled her into my arms. Her head rested against my chest, and her sopping hair sent rivers coursing down my arms.

She sobbed, trying to speak, but only a hiccup was released from her thin frame.

"Do you remember when we first met?" I asked, hoping I could comfort and calm her. "I was walking down to the quidditch pitch to watch the Hufflepuff try-outs, and a few metres in front of me, there was a girl, so alive and so happy, talking and joking with an older boy. She was gorgeous, not in the traditional sense, but there was something about her grin, her dimple, and her shiny, brown wavy hair. In that moment I was so jealous of the guy, making you laugh like that. I didn't discover until I was watching him try out, that he was actually your brother."

At this, I heard a sniffle, and a hiccupy-giggle. It was true though. There I was, mentally preparing myself to hate the guy, no matter how good he was, when I heard Clara Eggles ask the mystery girl who 'the spunk' was, and I could've died when I heard her reply in a strong accent that he was her brother.

"I remember in our first Care of Magical Creatures class with the Ravenclaws, you answered nearly every question Hagrid asked, apart from the ones answered by myself and Susan Bones, and you didn't even care what anyone thought, sharing your knowledge with the world in that clear and lilting accent. I remember after Hufflepuff's first quidditch win, you and another boy with dark hair sneaking into our common room. Another brother, I later discovered. Ben was the hero of that game, our star chaser; he had real skills, and tactics we'd never seen used here at Hogwarts."

"The thing I most remembered about that night though, was you. Hugging your brothers with that huge smile on your face, talking animatedly with Susan, and most of all, boldly marching up to Professor Sprout and initiating a conversation about bubotuber pus, while a third of us were waiting for her to notice you weren't in Hufflepuff, biting our nails and wondering what your punishment would be. Another third were in hysterics because she hadn't yet noticed, and the remainder were in awe of your bravery. I decided I HAD to get to know you. So it began. I kept turning up to classes early, hoping to get an opportunity to talk to you, but soon I realised it wasn't as easy as that. You were always with Wood, or another of your friends."

TBC!


End file.
